White Quilties! ~ Kara Klein

From Kara Klein in Los Angeles, CA we have received another set of quilties for the "Shades of White" swap - wow! I am lovin' this theme : ^ ) All of the entries so far are just fabulous. I was surprised that this quilties swap was the first of all the swaps I announced (last fall) to fill up. We now have 31 participants in this swap ~ a few people had to drop out . . . this happens, don't worry about it. Just let me know, as you have and it works out fine.

Anyway, Kara did an awesome job on her quilties; they are very beautiful and creative. There is a close up of two of her quilties to the left; click on the photo for even more detail. Below I will add a photo of all of Kara's shades of white quilties, front & back - plus a detail of possibly my favorite where I believe Kara did free motion sewing to stitch her teapot & her message. Thank you Kara; I always love having you in my swaps!

Creative Bag Swap: Andrea Millington

From Andrea Millington in Cornwall, UK we have a lovely hand made cashmere & wool bag decorated with free-motion stitching and beads. Andrea made a matching removable coin purse that clips in to the inside of the bag -see photo below.


When I went to photograph Andrea's bag I thought I felt something in the coin purse. It was a silver english 50 pence! I love it. : ^)

Later, I read on Andrea's blog that she placed the coin in there for good luck, how sweet. Please go to Andrea's blog to view more photos, and read about how she made her bag & the materials she used. She wrote a great post about making her swap entry! So much fun to see that . . . . I also learned by emailing back & forth with Andrea that she has a Bachelor's degree in Fashion Design and completed the City & Guilds Embroidery course in 2003. So cool! thanks for joining us, Andrea.

Creative Bag Swap: Mercedes Jimenez

From Mercedes, in Madrid, Spain! Wow, what a gorgeous and romantic bag Mercedes has created for our swap . . . she used special fabric for this; silk and lace, plus a beautiful vintage image. Thank you, Mercedes! I appreciate all your efforts including sending & receiving the swaps from Spain!

You can catch more detail by clicking on any of the photos. And I almost forgot! Mercedes has her own blog, where she wrote and shared photos about creating her bag in this post. Go see it!! Mercedes emailed me and wrote,

"I have done a post in my needlework blog and you can see it. I love it how it turned and it was difficult to let to go but I put all my love with it. It is made of special fabrics. You can translate my blog with Babel Fish link on the top right."

Thanks so much, Mercedes. All of the details are so appreciated!!

: ) lenna, who is enjoying seeing all of these items first-hand!

Creative Bag Swap: Ginny Ballou

From Ginny Ballou in Massachusetts we have received a very cretaive bag for our swap! I love the beaded handle and collaged surface. Can you spot the little blue bird at the top of the handle? (click on the photo for more detail).



This bag has a magnetic closure and Ginny also collaged the inside of the lid, see below. If you are IN this swap, just 2 weeks now to get these delivered to me -the last day I can accept creative bags is Feb. 23rd.

Thanks, Ginny! Great Bag.

Valentine Ornament Swap!

Wow! All the valentine ornaments came in on time, were swapped this weekend, and I sent out 32 packages this morning -- now I need a nap!!
: ^ ) It was well worth all the work; thank you for a fabulous swap. Thanks also to Casie Metcalf of Vintage Image Madness for providing romantic goodies for all the participants. Enjoy the slide show below!

Valentine Ornament Swap is all in!

All of the swap pieces have arrived and they ALL have been uploaded to our swaps blog - WOW! It is a good thing Steven & I put up a very large mailbox upon moving here last fall, as it has literally been stuffed with packages lately! I need to make a card of thanks (perhaps a Valentine?) for my mail carrier Barbara, as she has been working extra hard this week.

But first I want to thank all of the valentine ornament participants, and also thanks to those who visit & leave comments; much appreciated! I will start a swap list tonight and if all goes well, swap everything out tomorrow so I can mail out to you on Monday. Fingers crossed : ))

Valentine Ornament Swap: Casie Metcalf

Last, but certainly not least, here are Casie Metcalf's Valentine Ornaments all the way from Maine! Casie did a beautiful job creating pendant ornaments with images from downloadable sheets like Wedded Bliss -available from her very own online company called: Vintage Image Madness. You can read more about the company and their downloadable sheets here on this page.

I worked with Vintage Image Madness collage images recently to create a calendar page as part of a collaborative project organized by Casie. I was given the month of February! You can see all the months and read more about the calendar here - so exciting!

When Casie signed up for the Valentine Ornament swap, she asked me if Vintage Image Madness could sponsor the swap by providing a goodie pack to go along with your swaps. Of course I said yes! Below is a peek at what you will be receiving as well as a close up view of one of Casie's beautiful pendant ornaments. Thanks so much, Casie!

Valentine Ornament Swap: Vicky Martindale

From a long-time swap participant of mine, Vicky Martindale in Michigan, we have 3 awesome ATC Valentine ornaments plus an extra one for me - thank you! Vicky used embossed felt and images from the new Valentine Bird Hearts sheet found here at Alpha Stamps.

I recently ordered this sheet (designed by Amber Gibbs) and was glad to see how Vicky used it, as I have not made time to play around with mine yet! I simply loved Amber's images -very cool. You can see all of Vicky's ornaments that she sent in, below -of course, click on the smaller thumbnail for a larger view.

Valentine Ornament Swap: Melissa Woolsey

Melissa Woolsey from Oregon sent in 3 handmade and hand stamped fabric ornaments for our swap, thank you : ) Along with a couple of other packages, they made it here just in time -yippee! It looks like Melissa used a few coulors of Lumiere paint along with black fabric paint to stamp some plain fabric, and then she paired it with peacock fabric and pink velvet ribbon to create her ornaments. There is a close-up of the really nice fabric stamping Melissa did to the right, and another of ALL of the ornaments Melissa made, below. As always, click on any photo for more detail. : )

happy valentine's . . .

I took this photo of my office window last night when we were having an icy rain storm here in Connecticut . . . this is just one of the places I am decorating with your 'extras' - thanks so much!

The mail will be here soon, and today is the final day for me to receive. I'll scan the last pieces, upload them, close the door to keep the kittens out & start swapping!! : )) lenna

Valentine Ornament Swap: Bella Ayers

From Miz Bella Ayers, who is our Alpha Stamps Design Team Coordinator extraordinaire, in Georgia, we have the most adorable little felt valentine doll ornaments. These just make me smile! I love the little bags she wrapped them in, too! Click on the picture --The ornament/doll on the right has cutest little pewter arms. You can find them, along with lots of other cool charms for dolls on this page at Alpha Stamps.

~Here are some more pics:

Thank You Miz Bella!!!

Valentine Ornament Swap: Linda Schultz

Wow! My swap participants never cease to amaze me with their creativity. Look at the beautiful Valentine Ornaments my friend Linda Schultz from Pennsylvania sent in. So cool! Linda was able to make 4 ornaments, so I'll get to choose one for myself and swap the other three. Making an extra swap piece for me is not a requirement!! If you have time, please do, I love it! Or you can enclose a tiny gift instead if you like. Something like collage papers or whatever you think I might like : ) why? Hosting swaps is a lot of work, huge sometimes. Although, I LIKE the work, it has many rewards, I am a good match for the job, and at this time in my life - I have the TIME to do it, so I do. Any hostess gifts sent in are appreciated, but please understand, they are not a requirement. I really understand if you can't. If you are scrambling just to create the swap pieces do not worry!

Back to Linda's ornaments, please see the scan below to view ALL of these gems. Don't you love the beautiful tags she created to showcase them? ENjoy & keep your fingers crossed - you could be receiving one!

Sometimes people wonder or ask me HOW I choose who receives what - when I swap out. I probably vary how I physically arrange it each time I do it, but I typically start with a list on paper before I actually swap them. The one thing that always is true is that I look at the artwork that you send in as a participant and I try to trade your work with the work of someone I think you will like/love or at least appreciate! I cannot always "trade" - my piece for Mary's & Mary's piece for mine - because sometimes the swapping does not work out evenly & I have to do a few more trades . . . but I try my best and believe I succeed most all the time as I have many participants write me, thanking me and telling me how much they love their swaps or how I sent them what they were secretly wishing for.

Let's hope I have continued good luck with my methods!

Valentine Ornament Swap: Lori Guerin

From NY, Lori Guerin sends in her first attempt (? wow!) at needle-felting. Boy, am I am impressed! These little hearts are beautiful. thanks so much for the extra one as a hostess gift!
I am feeling quite happy (and romantic) with all these extra valentines hanging in windows and doorknobs - and in more than one room!

If you click on the photo I took you will be able to see more detail of Lori's handiwork . . . and I had to be quick and re-pack them back in their envelope as my 'helpers' seemed very interested in Lori's ornaments : )
This is my kitten, Star (the devilish one!)

Valentine Ornament Swap: Cynthia May

Cynthia May in California sent in a set of 3 cool ATC hanging Valentine ornaments, plus and extra one for me - Thank you!!

She used a variety of papers, images & transparencies, plus a dimensional flower.

Below are all of Cynthia's ornaments - as always, click on the image for a bigger picture. I love the teeny tiny hearts . . . thanks for participating, Cynthia!